By Daniel Bird
A new Ottawa police unit to combat street-level drug use will be operating in Centretown by mid-November, according to district Inspector Alain Bernard of the Ottawa police.
The eight-officer unit is a nine-month pilot project that will focus on an area bounded by the Ottawa River to the north, Island Park Drive to the west, south to Carleton University and east to the Vanier Parkway.
Bernard says police chief Vernon White created the unit in response to a recent rise in crack cocaine in the area, particularly among prostitutes.
“Historically, we have been very good at dealing with the mid-level and the high players in the area of drugs but we felt there was a greater need to do some additional work in addressing the street-level buys,” Bernard says.
Other types of criminal activity are often related to drug use, especially petty theft and vehicle break-ins, he adds.
Bernard says the budget for the unit will be between $50,000 and $75,000. Members are being recruited from other parts of the police force and a patrol sergeant will oversee the unit.
Recent reports of methamphetamine, also known as “meth,” being added to crack to make the drug more addictive have been proven false after samples of crack were analyzed by police labs, Bernard says.
While increased law enforcement will reduce the availability and use of drugs, Bernard says more drug treatment facilities in the Ottawa area are also needed to rehabilitate users.
“It’s one thing for the community to work with the police and it’s one thing for us to make these arrests, but let’s not kid ourselves,” he says. “If that addict goes before the courts and is released back onto the streets again they are going to be right back into their old habits in the space of hours, not days.”
To support the need for rehabilitation, City Council in July endorsed a plan to create a 48-bed residential drug treatment centre for youth.
Ottawa area youth in need of residential drug treatment are now sent almost 1,500 kilometres away to Thunder Bay.
Somerset ward Coun. Diane Holmes called the proposed treatment centre a “top priority,” but says the city is waiting for provincial funding.
She says the city should not have to share the cost of funding the treatment centre because health care is a provincial responsibility.
Holmes says size and accessibility would likely determine the location of the facility.
She also says residents and community groups will be consulted before the facility is built.
Betty MacGregor, a manager at the Centretown Community Health Centre, says any treatment centre needs to be easily accessible to its clients, especially if they don’t own a car.
If the treatment centre is not located downtown, transportation for clients should be provided, she says.
David Blaine, president of the Centretown Citizens’ Community Association, says residents might pressure city councillors to keep the facility out of their neighbourhoods.
He also says the treatment facility should not be located near schools or other vulnerable communities.
“There are a number of residents that feel Centretown has enough facilities now with halfway houses, methadone clinics and parole offices,” he says.